Rishi’s rush to Kyiv with £50m air defence aid
RISHI SUNAK made his first visit to Kyiv as Premier yesterday armed with a pledge of £50 million of defence aid to combat Russian air attacks.
Mr Sunak said it was ‘deeply humbling’ to be in Ukraine’s capital as he held his first face-to-face meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The latest British aid includes 125 anti-aircraft guns and dozens of radar systems, plus anti-drone electronic warfare capability.
This follows more than 1,000 anti-air missiles promised by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace this month.
Mr Sunak also confirmed £12 million for the World Food Programme’s response, plus £4million for the International Organisation for Migration.
The money will help provide generators, shelter, water system repairs and mobile health clinics.
The pledges came after Russia rained some 150 missiles on Ukraine last week – leaving ten million people without power and raising concerns that further attacks could lead to a ‘complete shutdown’ as temperatures plummet.
Mr Sunak laid flowers at a memorial for the war dead before meeting emergency workers at a fire station.
He said: ‘I am proud of how the UK stood with Ukraine from the beginning. I am here to say the UK and our allies will continue to stand with Ukraine as it fights to end this barbarous war and deliver a just peace.
‘While Ukraine’s armed forces succeed in pushing back Russia on the ground, civilians are being brutally bombarded from the air.
‘We are today providing new air defence, including anti-aircraft guns, radar and anti-drone equipment, and stepping up humanitarian support.’ Mr
Sunak also met Ukraine’s hero bombdetecting dog Patron, the Jack Russell who has detected hundreds of Russian landmines and unexploded bombs.
Mr Zelensky said: ‘Since the first days of the war, Ukraine and the UK have been the strongest of allies.’
Mr Sunak was following in the footsteps of Boris Johnson, who achieved hero status after his visit,. In September, Mr Zelensky – in an article for The Mail on Sunday – hailed him as ‘our true friend’.
In emotional scenes yesterday, families were reunited as the first train from Kyiv in eight months arrived in Kherson, eight days after the city was liberated from Russian occupation.
The overnight ‘Victory Train’, painted by artists and featuring slogans such as ‘People of Steel’, arrived to mass cheers, with travellers alighting to hugs . ‘It’s a symbol of freedom. It’s happiness,’ said Maria Matsenko, 66, as she waited on the platform.
Howson’s horror visions: Pages 36-37